Saint Luke was called to share the infinite mercy of Christ with the world, and he did so with a heart burning with love.
Saint Luke is one of the first prominent pagans in early Christianity. Despite his fame as the author of one of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, we know almost nothing about his life.
His contemporaries mentioned his medical training, and we know that he traveled with Paul throughout his ministry, remaining with him until his final imprisonment. We do not know how Luke first learned about Jesus or when he converted to Christianity. We do not even know how he died, although most traditions teach that he lived to a ripe old age and is not counted among the martyrs of the Church.
Despite the lack of details about his life, we can learn much about this great saint from his records of Christ’s life and ministry. Each of the four Gospels tells us something about the impact it had on the author and the audience he was writing to. Luke describes many of the same events found in the other two Synoptic Gospels, Mark and Matthew, but the emphasis is different, reflecting his pagan upbringing.
As Luke wrote, he knew that with his pen he must serve the mission of the Holy Spirit to unite Jews and Gentiles. Despite long exiles and much suffering, the Jews have always been known as God’s chosen children, separated from the Gentiles. Jesus himself was a Jew. He knew the old laws and recited the Jewish Scriptures. To the pagans of that era it seemed almost impossible that the Christian message of salvation could even reach them.
Luke stood in the gap between the communities in which he grew up and the Christians with whom he later lived. Through his writings, Luke paints a new picture of his Gentile brothers. Through Him, the Holy Spirit revealed to them a merciful God, mercy intended for all. The Christian God pours out his forgiveness, redeeming past sins and our human brokenness.
It is in the Gospel of Luke that we read the parable of the Good Samaritan, a foreigner who treats his enemy as his dearest friend. We read Prodigal Son and cry when the father runs out to meet the lost boy. Luke tells of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet, a woman devastated by sin and falling into the arms of her Creator. Luke records Mary’s longest recorded speech, the Magnificat, in which Our Lady proclaims the greatness and mercy of God who exalts the humble, and relays the events of the Annunciation and Nativity, in which God’s messengers announce that the Messiah be for all people.
Luke will probably remain a mysterious figure in the history of Christianity, whose full life will only be known when we, God willing, enter the great communion of saints. But many of the questions themselves tell us more about Luke than anything else. He was a man completely unconcerned with his own biographical details. He had much more important things to do. He was called to share the infinite mercy of Christ with the world, and he did this with a heart burning with love.
Saint Łukasz, pray for us!